


Innocent Until Convicted Guilty

by WithinLivesDarkness (Bloody_Jeans)



Category: Death Note, Death Note & Related Fandoms
Genre: A Decade in Prison, Accused Light, Angst, Apologetic L, Bitterness, Bottom Yagami Light, Clues, Conviction - Freeform, Detectives, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Eventual relationship, F/M, Geniuses, Guilt, Hate, Healing, Hiatus, Identity Issues, Innocence, Kira Returns, Light is not Kira, Love, M/M, Maximum Security Prison, Mental Instability, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Slash, Prisoner Light, Privacy Issues, Search for Kira, Slash, Slow Updates, Top L, Trust, bad memories, brainiacs, convicts, innocent Light, sexual identity issues, sweets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-22 10:52:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6076629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloody_Jeans/pseuds/WithinLivesDarkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Light wasn't Kira? The real Kira tricks L into imprisoning Light in prison for life, but what happens when the real Kira makes a comeback ten years later? L needs Light's help, but can he get Light to trust him again?</p><p>[[Rewriting, Long Hiatus]]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is just an experiment. I've been wanting to write a Death Note fanfiction for a really long time but never got any ideas. I know this idea is overused, but I'm trying to put my own twist into it. Tell me what you guys think, yeah?

  
_“No! Please! It’s not me!” His own, usually composed voice is begging, desperate._

_The men dragging him out of his house hide their faces beneath masks._

_Their grip on him is tight, and he knows he can’t escape._

_“I’m not Kira! You have to believe me!”_

_Struggling wouldn’t help him anyway._

_L glares at him from a distance, climbing out of the helicopter._

_“Officers, please escort Kira into the back of the helicopter. He will be safely transported to a maximum-security prison.”_

_What? No… No. No!_ NO! __

_Light screams out in anger, unintentionally convincing the detective of his guilt._

_“NO!”_

_The last thing Light sees before the end of his old life is his father’s tearful, disappointed face by the house…_

_Directed at him._  
  
______

Light woke up with a gasp. He clutched at his heart and tried taking deep breaths. Slowly sitting up, the convict wiped away the sweat on his forehead from the dream and reached for his lamp, one of the very few luxuries he had been allowed since he had no window, but only after his therapist had informed the prison ward that Light’s sanity was at an even greater risk if he were constantly trapped in the dark.

Glancing at the door, Light saw a tray of food near the cuff port and reached down for it, not caring that the slop served was truly disgusting. He shoved it down nonetheless since the next meal wouldn’t be coming for another couple hours, and the prison guards always came by to collect the trays after each mealtime.

Soon, the familiar clank and rattle of the metal door shifting started. Light stood up to offer the guard his tray as he did every day.

But the visitor at the door was not one Light had been expecting to see… ever. The convict collapsed back on the bed stunned as if a shinigami itself had paid him a visit, and his tray clattered to the stone floor.

“Light,” L greeted him at the door, his face expressionless.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light has a bit of a Kira fit...

_Badum… badum… badum, badum, badum-badum-badum-badum. ___

_This isn’t possible…_

Light felt as if his heart was imploding. His breathing grew erratic, and soon he was panting for air. Lights appeared in his eyes, and even though he wasn’t standing, he felt incredibly dizzy.  


_Was this what a heart attack felt like?_ he wondered.

Thankfully, he managed to keep most of his composure (for the moment). “L,” the convict cautiously said. He struggled to keep calm as he added, “What are you doing here?”

Light observed L’s face as the detective thought up a reply, watching reluctance, regret, and anger quickly pass through the older man’s eyes. Of course, none of this was displayed on his ever-pale, monochrome face. It would take a person who knew him well (too well) to see this.

Now that Light thought about it, L really hadn’t changed a single bit; his hair was still unkempt and charcoal black, his eyes a tumultuous dark grey, and his skin as pale as Light’s now (though he had an excuse as he was never allowed the privilege to go outside in the sunlight).

L's voice broke through his thoughts. 

“I… am here to set you free.”

Out of all the things Light was expecting to leave L’s mouth (from most likely to least: _you’re being executed, we’re moving you to an even higher security prison, you’re coming with me, I hate you_ ), this was _not_ one of them.

Confusion brewed within the convict, and anger began to bubble up. Uncontrollable rage, actually. The same rage that got him accused of being Kira.

But the former top student of To-Ho, the Yagami prodigy, now a convict falsely accused of being Kira, was too far gone to realize this.

“How _dare_ you!” Light hissed, standing up with fists clenched. “How _dare_ you come here! How _dare_ you even face me! How _dare you_ lie to me _about my freedom_!” With a roar, he lunged forward and, startling all the confused guards waiting in the corridor, wrapped his hands around L’s neck and thrashed him against the wall. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? _TELL ME!_ ” he shouted.

L’s eyes had widened by a fraction but returned to their normal emotionless self as he commanded in clear English, “Guards. Drug him.”

Light scrambled away and tried to prevent the guards from coming close to him, shoving them away, but he ultimately failed. “No! Let me go!” He struggled as three guards held him and the fourth approached with a sharp needle dripping with a strange fluid.

The needle entered his neck, and Light knew no more as he fell limp in the guards’ grips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, yes yes, I realize this chapter was horrendous and extremely short. However, that's because I'm not doing anything past basic editing of grammar and spelling. Normally, I rewrite the whole chapter until it fits most of my ideas and reads smoothly, but right now, I'm focusing on my Hobbit fanfic for the most part. You guys should start expecting poorly edited, cliche mini chapters from now on. If you _do_ want to read a well-edited, more quality fic, please go check out _Mist Upon the Eyes_! Just click on my username, it's easy! And yes, I'm shamelessly self-promoting right now. Whatever. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! Don't hesitate to kudos/leave a review/subscribe/bookmark. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light's finally woken up.

The next time Light woke, it was to the sound of faint beeping. The sound that usually comes with being in a hospitalized area, most likely. Light opened his eyes slightly and peered at the room he was in through his eyelashes.

It was a plain, painful white-colored room about 15 by 15 feet, Light calculated. There was a small couch in the corner, a tiny television hanging above his rather-large bed, a drawer next to him, and an IV-monitor attached to his wrist? Light knew better than to tear off the wire as the system was most likely set by L to alert him the minute his data stopped coming in. It seemed like an L-thing to do.

Speaking of which...

Where was L?

Light remembered everything that happened. There was no aftershock, no confusion, just acceptance. L had returned to cause even more destruction than he already had. He’d already basically destroyed Light’s physical health (via the other inmates and his vicious guards, and denied doctors’ visits) and emotional health (via his father’s rejection and loss of contact with the outside world). Now, he wanted to ruin the only thing Light had left to his name: his mind.

Though why it took him ten years to do this, was the only thing the former convict couldn’t understand.

Peeling back the bed sheets, tired of laying around, Light cautiously stood and felt relieved to find there were no consequences on his body from whatever drug they injected him with. His IV wire was longer than the usual wire, so it allowed him to explore each corner of the room though his needled arm had to stay back farther than his other one.

Light had just calmly shuffled through the drawers when he heard the sliding door open. For a terrifying moment, he froze, and his spine stiffened; however, taking a deep breath, Light pulled on an expressionless face to match L’s when he turned around.

But yet again, the poor convict was greeted by a surprising sight.

Yes, L was at the entrance and so was Watari (the old man didn’t seem to have grown much either, Light noted), but behind them…

Behind them stood Soichiro Yagami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, this was extremely short... But fear not, the next chapter will be longer and have many more events in it! In fact, today's a double update, so expect the next chapter in a few minutes. ^.^ Hope you enjoyed, and I'm sorry that this isn't as extensively edited as most people want it to be (including myself).
> 
> Don't forget to leave kudos/subscribe/bookmark/etc.!


	4. Chapter 4

Light’s eyes widened as his… as the NPA chief pushed passed the detectives and began to reach for him. Light quickly drew away, and Yagami’s eyes darkened before he stopped himself and bowed deeply.

“Light,” the chief softly said. He seemed to have been the only one in the room to have aged a lot. The man had dark circles under his eyes and more wrinkles than ever. His face seemed to be in a permanent frown, too.

Light studied him coldly before turning to the detectives at the door.

Watari bowed to him as well, surprising the convict again. L, however, stood there at the entrance motionless, staring at Light and Chief Yagami with a strange look…

_Almost… guilty?_

_But that’s not possible…_

The look was quickly wiped away from L’s face, and L detachedly said, “Good morning, Light. I hope you’ve had a pleasant rest.”

“Like hell I have,” Light snarled. Yagami gasped in surprise. “What the fuck are you doing, L, taking me away from my cell? What game are you playing now?”

L blinked at him slowly. “Light-kun…" ( _Don't call me that, dammit!_ he thinks but keeps quiet.) " - I assure you this is no game.” He nodded to Watari who shuffled through his briefcase and handed a document to him. L reluctantly admitted, “I have made… a mistake, Light-kun. My very first in crime-solving; I didn’t recognize it until now. And now… I must apologize to you, for you have been the victim of my extreme error.” 

The detective then deeply bowed, and the convict’s head spun dizzily, even though he felt like he was only observing all this... drama from a distance. Light felt empty and detached at this meeting, but still curious. 

_What? What does that mean?_

Light squinted at the detective. Soichiro read his thoughts when he finally snapped, “Just tell him, L!”

L turned his attention to Light again and finished, his gray eyes boring into him, “Light-kun… We have discovered new evidence that indicates that… that you are not Kira. The Court of Justice has... decided to free you. You are no longer a convict, Light-kun.”

Light’s jaw dropped as he was handed the document by L. This was the evidence, this was proof of his release.

Light was no longer trapped, his wings no longer constricted. For the first time in forever, Light Yagami was a free man, according to the same man who had locked him away.

But he sure didn’t feel like he was released. That's when L ruined his moment further by speaking again.

“Light-kun, we were hoping you could assist the new task force in the re-opened investigation for the megalomaniac and mass murderer, Kira.”


End file.
